Macy's (M) closed the most recent trading day at $20.54, moving -3.16% from the previous trading session. The stock's performance was behind the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.55%. Meanwhile, the Dow experienced a rise of 0.63%, and the technology-dominated Nasdaq saw an increase of 0.91%.
Heading into today, shares of the department store operator had lost 4.97% over the past month, lagging the Retail-Wholesale sector's gain of 4.28% and the S&P 500's gain of 0.71%.
The investment community will be closely monitoring the performance of Macy's in its forthcoming earnings report. The company is predicted to post an EPS of $1.55, indicating a 13.89% decline compared to the equivalent quarter last year. At the same time, our most recent consensus estimate is projecting a revenue of $7.52 billion, reflecting a 3.14% fall from the equivalent quarter last year.
For the entire fiscal year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $2.2 per share and a revenue of $21.65 billion, representing changes of -16.67% and -2.89%, respectively, from the prior year.
Any recent changes to analyst estimates for Macy's should also be noted by investors. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the business outlook.
Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. To exploit this, we've formed the Zacks Rank, a quantitative model that includes these estimate changes and presents a viable rating system.
The Zacks Rank system, which varies between #1 (Strong Buy) and #5 (Strong Sell), carries an impressive track record of exceeding expectations, confirmed by external audits, with stocks at #1 delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 1.85% higher. Macy's is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).
Valuation is also important, so investors should note that Macy's has a Forward P/E ratio of 9.63 right now. This indicates a discount in contrast to its industry's Forward P/E of 12.83.
The Retail - Regional Department Stores industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 1, which puts it in the top 1% of all 250+ industries.
The strength of our individual industry groups is measured by the Zacks Industry Rank, which is calculated based on the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within these groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.
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Macy's, Inc. (M): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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